Baja Chicken Tacos

Fresh, flavorful, and ready in less than 30 minutes, this light take on Baja Chicken Tacos just might become a go-to meal! The tender chicken can be grilled or pan-fried and serves as the perfect foundation for all your favorite toppings: we love lettuce or cabbage, pico de gallo, avocado, and a simple chipotle crema.

Even if you’ve never met a taco you didn’t like, these are still very likely to be a new favorite! I think of them as “skinny” Baja chicken tacos, because they have tons of fresh, bright flavors but no heavy breading or fried coating to weigh you down.

These tacos are also so easy and quick to make. The marinade punches above its weight to guarantee every bite of chicken is tender and flavorful. So let’s get to it!

Related: Super Quick Ground Chicken Tacos

Ingredients & Common Substitutions

To marinate this delicious Baja chicken, you will need:

• Plain Greek yogurt.
• Olive oil.
• Lime juice: fresh if possible, but bottled works, too.
• Spices: chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, kosher salt, and black pepper.

Chili powder, garlic powder, cumin, and lime juice all play together nicely to flavor the chicken, while Greek yogurt is a secret ingredient for marinades. Just a couple tablespoons makes the whole mixture thick and creamy, and keeps your cooked chicken incredibly moist.

I highly recommend using thin-sliced chicken breasts, which you can purchase labeled as such at most grocery store. You can also slice “regular” chicken breasts in half through the flat middle. Thin-sliced chicken breasts cook more quickly and evenly, and have more opportunity to absorb flavor during their quick time in the marinade.

As always with taco toppings, the sky is the limit, and it comes down simply to your own preference. Here are our go-to fixings for Baja chicken tacos. Obviously you can’t go wrong with whatever you love — or already have in your fridge!

Cook once, eat twice: Baja chicken also makes a fabulous protein to serve alongside salsa or salad, or in burrito bowls or wraps.

What is Baja sauce?

Wondering what, exactly, is Baja sauce? It’s essentially a creamy sauce with a touch of heat, popularized as a condiment by Taco Bell, of all places.

You’ll find some complicated recipes to replicate it, most of them involving mayonnaise, poblano or jalapeno peppers, and often additional spices and seasonings. For everyday cooking, though, I find this incredibly simple combination of Greek yogurt and adobo sauce to be easy and perfect. Add a squeeze of lime or a smidge of water to thin out the sauce to your liking.

You can use sour cream or mayo in place of the yogurt, and the easiest way to get adobo sauce is by cracking open a can of chipotle chili peppers, typically sold in the Mexican or Latin food aisle of your everyday grocery store, and spooning out the sauce that surrounds the peppers. The rest of the peppers and sauce keep well in the fridge for 3-4 weeks, tightly covered, and can be frozen, too.

How To Make Baja Chicken Tacos

These tasty tacos are a super simple affair to whip up:

1. Marinate chicken.
2. Prep toppings.
3. Cook chicken and slice.
4. Assemble and eat!

How long to marinate Baja chicken?

For good flavor, you can marinate this chicken for as little as 5-10 minutes at room temperature, or cover tightly and marinate in the fridge for up to 8 hours.

Longer than that and the lime juice may begin to compromise the chicken’s texture.

While the chicken marinates and cooks, prep all of your toppings.

If I’m being honest, my favorite way to make these is to prep the chicken in the marinade and hand it off to grill outside, but it can be just as easily cooked on the stovetop, as well.

Pro Tip: You can achieve perfect grill marks on your stovetop by using a simple cast iron grill pan. It’s affordable and we use it at least 3-4 times per week!

Once the chicken is cooked, allow it to cool for a minute or two, so the juices don’t run out excessively while you are slicing it. Cut the cooked chicken into bite-sized pieces, small enough to easily pile into your tortillas.

This is the point at which you can congratulate yourself for basically replicating Chipotle at home. 🙂

How to warm tortillas for tacos?

There are three main methods for warming tortillas: covered with a damp paper towel in the microwave, wrapped in aluminum foil in a 350 degree oven, or heated in a skillet or directly over a gas flame on the stovetop. The last method is my favorite, as long as I don’t need 10+ tortillas at once!

All of these methods work well with store-bought flour or corn tortillas, and are even better with homemade flour tortillas when you want to do it all from scratch!

Serving Suggestions

You will for sure want to add all the most delicious toppings to make these tacos your own! Perfect pairings include:

• Red or green cabbage, thinly-sliced
• Red or green leaf lettuce
• Chopped tomatoes
• Pico de gallo or blender salsa
• Chopped avocado or guacamole
• Crumbled Cotija or shredded Monterey Jack
• A squeeze of lime juice
• Chopped bell pepper or matchstick carrots — not traditional but they add color, crunch, and more nutrition

Want to make your meal into a real celebration? Don’t forget the margaritas — we love this margarita with orange juice best of all — and an irresistible Mexican chocolate cake!

More Easy Taco Recipes

• The Best Crockpot Chicken Tacos
• Jalapeno Lime Fish Tacos
• Instant Pot Ground Beef Tacos
• Crispy Spiced Chickpea Tacos
• Sweet Potato Black Bean Tacos
• Baked Tacos (with ground beef, chicken, or turkey)

If you try these Baja Chicken Tacos, don’t forget to rate the recipe and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.

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